Overview of teams cut from Affiliated Ball

Recently, you could read here about the teams that were kicked out of affiliated Minor League Basebal alreadyl. After roaming the internet in the past week, checking out several major baseball websites, the Dutch Baseball Hangout came to the conclusion which other teams will not be in affiliated ball anymore.

Minor League Baseball - Wikipedia


Here is a quick overview of the teams that have found a new home:

The Appalachian League, turned into a collegiate league. The teams will rebrand for the 2021 season:

1. Blue Field Blue Jays
2. Bristol Pirates
3. Burlington Royals
4. Danville Braves
5. Elizabethton Twins
6. Greenville Reds
7. Johnson City Cardinals
8. Kingsport Mets
9. Princeton Rays
10. Pulaski Yankees

The Pioneer League turns into an “independent” league. All members will join and keep their moniker:

11. Billings Mustangs
12. Grand Junction Rockies
13. Great Falls Voyagers
14. Idaho Falls Chukars
15. Missoula PaddleHeads
16. North Colorado Owlz (Orem Owlz move to new ballpark in Windsor, CO.)
17. Ogden Raptors
18. Rocky Mountain Vibes

Then we have the newly erected Draft League in which four teams of the New York-Penn League are known to participate and one from the Eastern League:

19. Mahoning Valley Scrappers (former NY-Penn)
20. State College Spikes (former NY-Penn)
21. Trenton Thunder (former Eastern League)
22. West Virginia Black Bears (former NY-Penn)
23. Williamsport Crosscutters (former NY-Penn)

Besides these 23 teams, it is rumored that the Norwich SeaUnicorns, the Tri-City ValleyCats and the Vermont LakeMonsters will turn to Indy ball. Also the fate of the Staten Island Yankees is known since the club announced to cease activities. So that makes a total of 27 teams.

The following teams will very likely not return to affiliated ball as well. To make it easier, I will use the old alignment instead of the new one:


28. Jackson Generals, AA Southern League
29. Lancaster JetHawks, A Advanced California Leagu
30 Florida FireFrogs, A Advanced Florida State League
31. Charlotte Stone Crabs, A Advanced Florida State League
32. Clinton LumberKings, A Full Season Midwest League
33. Burlington Bees, A Full Season Midwest League
34. Kane County Cougars, A Full Season Midwest League
35. Hagerstown Suns, A Full Season South Atlantic League
36. West Virginia Power, A Full Season South Atlantic League
37. Auburn Double Days, A Short Season New York-Penn League
38. Batavia Muckdogs, A Short Season New York-Penn League
39. Lowell Spinners, A Short Season New York Penn League
40 Salem Keizer Volcanoes, A Short Season Northwest League


Perhaps in some cases it may be a forgone conclusion, but in general, the names of the odd teams out will be right.

Of the mentioned numbers 28 through 40, it is not clear yet what their future will hold. Will they become a member of an Indy League, will they turn to collegiate ball or will they cease operations? In case of the latter, will they follow the example of the Staten Island Yankees and sue MLB and their former parent club?

Regarding the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes it is not quite clear what will happen. Some sources are telling that the Northwest League will keep eight teams, others say the league will continue with six. So if the NWL will remain an eight-team league, the list of cut teams will be only contain forty clubs instead of forty-two. The Tri-City Dust Devils will remain in affiliated ball. They have been invited by the Los Angeles Angels.






2 Replies to “Overview of teams cut from Affiliated Ball”

  1. And those 5 draft league teams…who would want to see that league? The best draftees will definitely not want to risk their draft stock there so you’ll see very low future picks in it…feels something like a rule 5 draft league with the difference that we won’t see pro ballers in it.

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  2. I am not sure about all of them, but I know that at least a couple have 20-30 year old stadiums. If that is true for most of them and with the absence of pro ball, I think these clubs will have a hard time getting the financial incentives to continue, so my guess is that many will cease to exist.

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